excited, but worth the wait >> stay with us now. >> "news 4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. paying tribute. this morning the lululemon store opens its doors for the first time since that horrific crime took place inside. there is one noticeable change. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this friday, june 24th, 2011. a live look outside at 5:00 a.m. it's 73 degrees out there. already, tom says humidity not as bad as yesterday. and that means we're in for relief for the weekend. just in time, tom. people are going to be happy to hear your forecast >> and i'm to be congratulated for my good sense of timing. >> congratulations, tom. we credit you with the good weather. as we head off to work on this friday morning, it's cooled down into the upper 60s and low

70s in the nearby suburbs with somewhat lower humidity in the air. it's partly cloudy throughout much of the region. right now 75 at reagan national. we're in the 70s around the bay and eastern shore. a little more humid there. farther west and north, a little less humid in the shenandoah valley, blue ridge, western maryland. temperatures there in many locations are dipped into the upper 60s. as this day progresses, we will have that drier air gradually moving in. it might trigger an afternoon thunderstorm. there's a small chance of that, and only a small chance that any storms would produce wind damage or hail, and that would be mainly east of interstate 95 around the bay and on the eastern shore if it does happen. there's capitol hill under a mostly cloudy sky. we've got to see sunshine as the day progresses. our sunrise is in 45 minutes. by 9:00 we'll be in the upper 70s and partly cloudy. partly cloudy noontime, the mid-80s. midafternoon into the upper 80s and partly cloudy to mostly cloudy as the clouds build as drier air does push in from the west.

we could get passing thunderstorms. again, the greater chance of any severe weather would be east of interstate 95. that would be late afternoon and early evening. a look at your friday night planner coming up in about ten minutes at 5:11. danella sealock, good morning. how's the friday morning traffic? checking our roadways, we are still looking good. everything is moving nicely. let's take a look at d.c. right now. here's eastern avenue at kenilworth avenue, and it's moving as well. i'm telling you it's a great time to travel if you didn't have to wake up so early. here's a look at 270. 270 in maryland north and south, you're looking good as well. i am seeing more head liplights 270. that means people are waking up, but no accidents to report there. and here's 495 south at braddock road. you're looking good as well in virginia. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks very much, danella. 5:02. today the lululemon store in montgomery county, maryland, will reopen for the first time

since one employee was found dead and another charged with her murder. melissa mollet is live with how the company will honor the victim today. >> reporter: good morning. the store has a new theme as we've been talking about for a couple of days. the theme is love. this store looks quite different from the way it looked over the past couple of months. over the past couple of months, it was a shrine stacked with balloons and notes, flowers and candles. the paper has been pulled from the windows as we get a glimpse inside the renovated store. the reopening comes more than three months after 30-year-old murray was killed inside the store. her coworker 28-year-old brittany norwood has been charged with the murder. norwood originally told police she and murray were assaulted by two men who then tied her up and killed murray. the windows have been papered over, and individual i vigils h outside here in her honor. her family is expected to be here for the reopening. saturday we expect a large crowd

to be in front of the store. lululemon will be hosting a community yoga class starting at 9:00 a.m. and starting with a moment in silence in honor of jayna murray. melissa mollet, news 4. back to you. new from overnight, police are trying to figure out the circumstances behind a shooting. a man was shot in prince jorn george's county and managed to drive to southeast d.c. police found him at a gas station and took him to the hospital. no word on who might have shot him. this morning amtrak is hoping for a smoother ride, looking into power problems causeding disruptions along the heavily traveled northeast corridor. during last evening's rush, amtrak had to hold up some trains for 90 minutes. it's been a recurring problem all week of the power issues are between philadelphia and new york. new from overnight, official lifted a tsunami warning after a massive earthquake hit off the south western coast of alaska. the 7.2 quake hit last night,

triggering a brief tsunami warning. people did hear the warning sirens and moved to higher ground. there have been no reports of any damage. thousands of people living near minot, north dakota, are out of their homes right now. historic flooding from the souris river has already flooded several neighborhoods and threatens many more. crews spent the night reinforcing bridges and buildings to help maintain the area's water and sewer service. >> last time it was, you know, let's pray that the levees hold. this time it doesn't matter whether they hold. it's going to go over it. >> this weekend floodwaters expected to reach levels not seen since 1881. this morning the husband of a falls church city council member is charged with sexual battery. michael gardner is charged with sexually abusing three young girls all under the age of 13. the girls say he had inappropriate physical contact with them at his home last week. his wife is robin gardner, a council member and former falls

church mayor. he appeared in court yesterday and was granted a $50,000 bond. a convicted killer's attorney says he'll appeal a fairfax county judge's decision to sentence his client to death. mark lawlor was sentenced yesterday. a jury convicted him of killing genevieve orange with a hammer in her apartment and sexually assaulting her three years ago. his lawyer says he shouldn't have been convicted of capital murder because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time and wasn't aware of what he was doing. lawlor is the second man from fairfax county to be sentenced to death in the last decade. 5:06 is the time. ahead, why the facebook lawsuit may be back on. >> plus the man suspected of >> plus th[ man ] i goted of this new citi thankyou card

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battle involving facebook. the twins, cameron and tyler winklevoss, harvard classmates of facebook founder mark zuckerberg, have been claiming he stole their idea. yesterday it was thought the suit had ended because they were not appealing to the u.s. supreme court, but this morning we've learned the winklevosses have now filed a motion in the massachusetts federal court. the suit seeks to undo a $65 million settlement deal reached back in 2008. they claim the settlement was based on an incorrect estimate of how much facebook is worth. the winklevosses and the suit were detailed in the movie "social network." >> great movie, but it's not really over yet. we're going to take a live look outside at 5:10. 73 degrees. a beautiful sky in the nation's capital. we are in for much needed relief of that steamy weather. and now just in time for the weekend, meteorologist tom kierein delivers a night outlook. good morning to you, tom.

>> thank you, sir. >> well, thank you very much. it does look like we have lower humidity moving in. just the picture we just saw, you can see the visibility is a lot better. less haze in the air on this friday morning, and we do have a partly cloudy sky. 75 at reagan national. from foggy bottom to oxon hill, shan tilly and poolesville, we have temperatures near 70 degrees. mid-70s in washington and by the way. mid to upper 60s shenandoah valley and the western part of maryland and into west virginia. temperatures there in the mid-60s. later today, we will have our sunrise at 5:44, and temperatures by 9:00 will be near 80. mid-80s by noontime. upper 80s midafternoon and partly cloudy. late in the afternoon and into early evening, we have a 30% chance for some passing thunderstorms as the lower humidity really does push in. that threat of any storms and severe weather is east of interstate 95. we'll take a look at your night

planner. we'll have that and a lingering storm perhaps until about 7:00 or 8:00 but then otherwise partly cloudy. mid-60s by dawn saturday. a look at the weekend into next week in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? our rails are open, and so far everything is on tinl. metro, marc, vre is looking good. and our roadways are looking great as well. here right now we're in d.c., new york avenue at bladensburg road. we know it's going to be a mess later. right now it's great. reason to celebrate, right? here's georgia avenue at bonifant avenue in silver spring. no accidents or incidents to report. and a look at 395 north at glebe in virginia. you're looking good as well. it's a great friday so far. eun and joe. >> they're all great fridays. thanks, danella. >> absolutely right. >> absolutely right. ahead on "news 4 today," who

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5:15 now. in decision 2012 a brand new poll shows republicans are paying more attention to the field of gop challengers. 71% of those sur vafd in a new ap poll said they had a great deal of interest in the presidential race. that's compared to just 65% in may. as for potential front-runners, sarah palin, who has said she will run for president yet, has a 63% favorability rating. and three-term minnesota congresswoman michelle bachmann jumped from to a 54% favorability rating. she's set to formally kick off her campaign on monday. time 5:16. president obama spent last night at his first ever fund-raiser for gay supporters in new york just as lawmakers are getting

ready to vote on a same-sex marriage bill. this morning the critics are talking about the president's stance on gay rights. tracie potts joins us live to talk about how this topic may affect the 2012 presidential election. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: joe, good morning. it is largely about the election. as we head into it, the president really walking the fence on this one, trying not to alienate those gay rights supporters who have been supporters of his for a while, but also not alienate conservatives in swing states. at this event last night, which by the way, had about 30 protesters outside of it. the president stressed his record. the military ban that was repealed, not pursuing legislation or not pursuing the defense of marriage act. he's told the justice department not to defend that anymore. he stopped short of endorsing same-sex marriages. here's how he explained it last night. >> and i believed that discrimination because of somebody's sexual orientation or

gender identity ran counter to who we are as a people. it's a violation of the basic tenets on which this nation was founded. i believe that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country. >> now, the irony here, he said that in a state where they are now very close possibly to endorsing -- to legalizing same-sex marriage, they're about one vote short in the new york legislature whch legislature. when it comes to 2012, turns out gay voters may not have much of a choice. president obama may not have to make that decision because republican candidates pretty much lined up against them. joe? >> tracie, thanks very much. today a soldier from illinois will receive one of the military's most prestigious awards, the purple heart. the ceremony will take place at walter reed where the soldier is recovering from injuries suffered in afghanistan. it will be one of the last purple heart ceremonies ever held at the military hospital. it is scheduled to close later this year. 5:18 is the time. this morning we're learning more

about the evidence against that man who triggered last week's security scare at the pentagon and is now charged with last year's shootings atd several military installations in northern virginia. prosecutors say they found bomb making materials in yonathan melaku's backpack and found a list of potential bomb components at his home as well as video that prosecutors say he recorded showing himself firing shots outside the marine corps museum. that was one of four targets hit by bullets last fall. melaku remains in custody this morning, and prosecutors say they may file more charges against him. more problems for arlington national cemetery and now another investigation. army investigators want to know why 69 boxes of burial records were found in a commercial storage facility. cemetery officials say they found the records earlier this month. information came out during a congressional hearing yesterday. last year an army inspector general report found widespread problems in how arlington was managed.

they found at least 200 discrepancies between burial maps and grave sites. this morning we now have the video showing the arrest of a reporter covering a public meeting in the district. >> sir, you can't arrest me more reporting. >> police arresting jim tucker and jim epstein when they tried to record a meeting of the taxicab commission. as it happened, the crowd in the room noticed a commotion and reacted. the two were later released and not charged. tucker says he will continue to cover the commission. >> definitely. i mean, this is my -- this is what i've been covering, and this is what i look forward to continuing to cover. maybe other journalists will join me. i think july 13th is the next meeting. maybe there will be a bunch of people with cameras to prove the point that's what public meetings are about. >> mayor vincent gray released a statement, "i remain fully supportive of the district's open meetings act both in letter and in spirit. my office is inquiring into yesterday's incident to ensure that taxicab commission

officials adhere to this standard." a judge concluded yesterday that lindsay lohan did not violate her probation and would not be sent to jail. some are asking if lindsay lohan is getting special treatment by the legal system. lindsay's lawyer sean holly says no. holly says people believe that celebrities get a break, but that is not true. anyone with lohan's background would have received house arrest, and lohan did not get any special treatment. 5:21 is the time now. weather and traffic together. let's start with tom kierein in -- he's actually here in the studio with us taking a look outside. tom? >> there's capitol hill, and actually we can get a good view of it this morning. visibility has improved. lower humidity has moved in. partly to mostly cloudy over washington now. west and north of us, it's mostly clear on this friday morning. east mostly cloudy. temperatures around the region are more comfortable with this lower humidity that's been slowly moving in overnight. right now near 70 in montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties, as

well as prince george's county. mid-70s, washington. northern neck, eastern shore. farther to the west and north, near 60 to 70 degrees. there's the predawn sky over capitol hill. the sun will be coming up in about 25 minutes. by 9:00, upper 70s. partly cloudy. partly cloudy during the afternoon. lower humidity coming in, highs upper 80s. we might get an isolated storm into early evening, mainly east of interstate 95. there's a small chance of that. and then the low humidity in place later tonight too and over the weekend. a wonderful weekend coming up. mid-60s tomorrow morning. afternoon highs mid-80s on saturday and partly cloudy. a bit of a blustery northwest wind on saturday. good for sailing. on sunday should be bright and sunni. as we get into next week, turning humid monday and tuesday. you might have afternoon storms both of those days. another shot of lower humidity moving in midweek. danella sealock, good morning. how's traffic? >> good morning. i'm checking our roadways.

so far looking good. i am seeing volume pick up but nothing significant. it's a great time to be on the road. if you could sacrifice your sleep, here's a look at 66 and 495 in virginia. 66 east and west is looking great. so far your lanes are open. no accidents to report. checking out the bridges here, this is the american legion bridge. you can see people are making their way this morning. again, all lanes are open, and you are having a smooth ride in you're on the roadways right now as we head down to 95 north of prince williams parkway, i can tell you 95 north and south in virginia, it's looking beautiful. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks, danella. 5:23 now. if you're a wizards fan, there may be hope this morning that the team may finally have what it takes to win again. >> with the sixth pick in the 2011 nba draft, the washington wizards select jan vessely from czech republic. >> the wiz selected the 6'11" forward with their sixth overall

pick in last night's nba draft. vessely is just 21 years old. he's 1 of 3 players the wizards drafted. they also picked forward chris singleton from florida state with the 18th overall pick, widely considered the best defensive player in the draft. maryland terrapin fans should know him pretty well. he torched the terps during his three years at fsu. and they grabbed sheldon mack, hoping his talent translates to the nba. he was selected with the 34th overall pick. mack played in the last two final fours for butler. >> let's hope vessely's game on the court is as good as off of it. that may be the most memorable moment from last night's draft. when his name was called, vessely and his girlfriend locked lips, and the crowd ate it up, cheering for the couple. as you can see, vessely's girlfriend is clearly proud of her boyfriend, and you can see she's almost as tall as he is.

mystics, please take note. as for the former maryland terrapin jordan williams, he is a new jersey net this morning. he was picked in the second round, 36th overall. williams played at maryland for two years before he decided to turn pro. if you are trying to buy tickets to the 2012 olympics in london, you may not have much luck. so many people tried to buy tickets when they went on sale early this morning, they crashed the website. 600,000 tickets are available for beach volleyball, basketball, and other athletic events. 1.7 million tickets are available for soccer matches. the ticket window is open for ten days, only until july 3rd. we tried the website overnight, and it allowed us to go to the registration page. it might take a little while. you know how sad your dog is when you leave for work in the morning. today you can give your furry friend a real treat. you can take your dog with you. it is national take your dog to workday. thousands of businesses are taking part in this annual

event. it's probably, though, a good idea to make sure your office is one of those offices allowing dogs to work before you bring fido to the job. does anyone really name their dog fido anymore? is there a dog in the country named fido? >> i think there is and sparky. >> sparky, but fido? do you know any dogs named fido? >> i don't know personally. i bet you it's a good name, fido. >> everyone with a dog named fido, raise your hand. i told you. >> i bet you there are viewers with their hands raised down there. >> 5:26 is the time. coming up, the move that could cause a dramatic drop in prices at the gasoline pump. right when the

this morning the store that shut its doors three years ago with a horrific crime is reopening with a new theme to honor the victim murdered there. and the national effort under way to save you money. good morning. i'm eun yang. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. news on this friday, the 24th day of june. let's take a live look outside this morning. kind of hazy skies but clearing up a bit. you can see the puffy clouds up there as well. lower humidity, 75 degrees. >> very nice, tom, just in time for the weekend. >> you'll notice a change as you step outside the door. somewhat less humidity. visibility has improved. not quite as much haze. around the region, temperatures comfortable right now. near 70 in prince george's county. arlington, fairfax, montgomery counties. farther to the west around the shenandoah valley, many of the weather watchers reporting early this morning, down in the mid-60s as well as around the blue ridge. closer to washington, nearby suburbs inside the beltway,

mid-70s. mid-70s downtown. and right by the chesapeake bay. and on the eastern shore, right at the atlantic beaches, upper 70s right now. there's the sky over the potomac river. mostly cloudy right now. we have temperatures that will hold steady in the 70s throughout the rest of the midmorning. and then by noontime, we should be into the low 80s by midafternoon into the mid and upper 80s. as the much drier air does begin to push in later this afternoon. we have a 30% chance of scattered storms late afternoon and early evening. looks like mainly east of interstate 95. sunset 8:37. these are the longest days of the year but gradually getting shorter and shorter. we'll take a look at the "night planner" coming up in it ten minutes. danella, good morning. how's traffic? >> metro, marc, and vre running on or close to schedule. let's check out the roadways. here in d.c., a camera right

here at penn and 14th. looking good in d.c. for you. 270, i'm seeing volume in maryland, coming 270 south, but nothing significant. 270 north and south. 395 north of edsel. that 395 is picking up. all your lanes are open, and no accidents to report. eun and joe, back to you. >> anyone hopping on an amtrak train this morning is doing so with fingers crossed. the company is trying to figure out what's behind the power problems causing disruptions along the heavily traveled northeast corridor. during last evening's rush hour, amtrak had to hold up some trains for 90 minutes. it's been a recurring problem all week. power issues between philadelphia and new york. today the lululemon store where employee jayna murray died will reopen in montgomery county. it's been closed since her murder in march. another coworker is charged with her death. news 4's melissa mollet is live

with the news on how the story will honor murray's memory. >> reporter: that's right. they're going to be honoring jayna murray today, honoring her memory, as you mentioned, all in the theme of love. that is the new theme of this bethesda store. you can see it's written up near the lululemon logo here. the front of the store looks very, very different from the way it's looked over the past couple of months. once a shrine stacked with flowers and notes, the paper has been pulled from the windows as we finally now get a glimpse inside this renovated store. the reopening comes more than three months after 30-year-old murray was killed inside. her coworker, 28-year-old brittany norwood, has been charged with the murder. norwood originally told police she and murray were assaulted by two men who then tied her up and killed murray. police arrested her within a week of that murder. now we spoke with a bethesda resident out here just a short time ago much she says she believes jayna would want the store to reopen. >> i think she would want it to

be reopened. i really do. just for her memory. >> reporter: now, jayna's family is expected to be here for today's reopening happening in just a couple of hours. also, saturday a large crowd expected just across the street here at bethesda road. we understand they are going to hold a yoga class in jayna's memory and begin that yoga class with a moment of silence. live in bethesda, melissa mollet, news 4. back to you, joe. >> melissa, thanks very much. new from overnight, police are investigating a shooting that started in maryland and ended in the district. investigators say someone shot a man in prince george's county. the victim drove himself to a gas station on south capital street in southeast d.c. that's where rescuers found him and took him to the hospital. police have not said if they know who the gunman may be or whether they know the motive behind the shooting. also new from overnight, officials lifted a tsunami warning after a massive earthquake hit off the coast of alaska.

the 7.2 quake hit triggering a tsunami warning. it moved to higher ground, but there have been no reports of any damage. this morning the washington nationals are looking for a new manager. jim riggleman stunned nats fans and players yesterday when he announced his resignation as manager. he was upset the team hadn't begun talks about a contract extension even though the team is playing as well as they've played in years. >> it's been brewing for a while. i just felt that -- i know i'm not casey stengel, but i do feel like i know what i'm doing. you know, it's not a situation where i felt like i should continue on with such a short leash. >> riggleman took over as nationals manager in 2009. he's been working on one-year contracts and has been one of baseball's lowest paid managers. by the way, the nats won riggleman's last game as manager 1-0. >> it's not clear the nats will return, but they might want to

look to capitol hill if they need a clutch hitter. >> go! go! >> boom, what a play at the plate. dnc chairwoman debbie wasserman shuts knocked in the winning run last night to help the female congress members edge members of the washington press corps 5-4. the game was played before a packed house at watkins recreational park. the winner was the young survival coalition. postings from the game went to the charity which helps young women with breast cancer. >> looks like a great game. >> looked like a lot of fun. >> congresswoman showing she's got a good arm out there. >> yes, indeed. >> she is a braet cancer

survivor and a big voice for cancer research. kudos to everyone involved. why police may have

our time is 5:40. 75 degrees outside. beautiful sky. isn't that nice? all those clouds above us? see the orange pink of the sun trying to sneak through the clouds. nice day out there. >> getting nicer for the weekend. meteorologist tom kierein is with us with weather and traffic on the ones. >> good morning. starting off friday morning, a little less humid as you head out the door. right now on radar, the clouds producing a few sprinkles in howard county right near columbia. those sprinkles are continuing

to move off to the east-northeast. around the region, we have temperatures right now in the low to mid-70s, now near 70 in the nearby suburbs. mid-70s in washington by the way. upper 60s, shenandoah valley into the mountains. breaks in the cloud this morning into the afternoon. sunrise in about three minutes. midafternoon, upper 80s. late afternoon and early evening hours, small chance of an isolated storm mainly east of 95 and along the eastern shore. by this time saturday morning, we'll be down into the mid-60s. as we start off saturday. and we'll take a look at the weekend and into next week. that will be in about ten minutes. danella, good morning. how's traffic now? >> good morning. starting out with the rails, so far, so good. metro, marc, vre all running on time or close to schedule. let's head over to d.c. right now. take a look right here. this is "m" street at south cap.

i can tell you in d.c. i'm checking your roadways, and i have no accidents to report. as we head over to maryland, 495 at poolesville road, i am seeing traffic increase on the outer loop of the beltway just in silver spring area but nothing too significant. everything's open. inner loop and outer loop, no accidents to report as we head to virginia. 495 at georgetown pike, you're looking good as well. joe and eun, back to you. >> thank you, danella. it is now 5:42. 74 degrees. the adventure planned for the the adventure planned for the first

man: we need a sofa. something i can stretch out on! woman: ooh... that will go with those lamps my mother gave us. or we could get some new lamps. or we could get no sofa. negotiating, eh? you got it!

welcome back at 5:45. this morning there is an

international effort to bring down gas prices. the u.s. is among several nations now releasing millions of barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. right now according to aaa, gas prices are averaging $3.93 in the district. maryland drivers paying $3.65. virginia's average is $3.51. $3.65 in west virginia. news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live from prince george's county. tracee, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. some folks are questioning the timing because they're wondering is this really about the libyan oil crisis and what's happened in libya, or is this about summer making sure folks hit the roads and are spending money. what we do know is we're looking at gas prices being 50 cents cheaper. that's not going to happen until next week.

the international energy agency is releasing 60 million barrels of oil. the department of energy has decided to tap into our reserves normally used for emergencies only. it has been said this is about settling some of the higher gas prices caused by the libyan crisis. oil prices have already started to drop because of this. it could still be weeks before the prices at the pump catch up, perhaps even a month. we doe no that oil already started to drop, and prices at the pump dropped from $3.98 in may to an average of $3.61 today. it's still a dollar more than last year. consumers would love to see gas just be cheaper no matter what it is. cheaper is better. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning on capitol hill. back to you in the studio. >> just about everything. right, tracee? today lawmakers on capitol hill could vote on what some claim is causing rising gasoline prices. that's the ongoing conflict in libya. the house is expected to pick up one resolution to cut off funding for military action with

nato as well as intelligence and surveillance. a separate resolution would authorize u.s. participation in libya for one year. the obama administration wants to continue the current u.s. role in the mission. vice president joe biden says bipartisan talks to raise the debt limit are making progress despite the fact republicans have abandoned the negotiations. democrats want to reduce long-term deficits by cutting spending and increasing some tax revenue. republicans say the tax hikes will not be part of any negotiations. house majority leader eric cantore of virginia said that he would not attend meetings with the tax hike on the table. the vice president says the next step is up to the president and top congressional leaders. there is new legislation on capitol hill aimed at saving the u.s. postal service. the bill would eliminate saturday mail delivery, give the usps more latitude to close post offices, and create a panel to eliminate cost cuts. the postal service recently announced plans to stop putting money into the pension fund.

the agency lost $5 billion last year. 5:48 is the time. montgomery county may have the first charter school. outgoing president jerry wiest has recommended to the board of education it approve one of two charter school applications it received for the 2012/13 school year. that application is for the community montessori charter school. they'll begin considering the applications on monday. casey anthony's mother may have changed the momentum in her daughter's murder trial. cindy anthony testified she was the one who searched for chloroform on the house computer. she said she tried typing the word chlorophyll while researching why her dogs were lethargic. casey anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee. the family contends the daughter drowned in the backyard swimming pool.

the death of osama bin laden is generating new leads. more questions about pakistan's intelligence agency. "the new york times" reports the cell phone of osama bin laden's trusted courier contained contacts to a militant group that's been described as a longtime asset of pakistan's intelligence agency. "the times" reports that bin laden used that group as part of his support network inside pakistan. this raises the question about whether the group and others helped hide bin laden on behalf of pakistan's spy agency. mobster james "whitey" bulger will soon be heading back to boston. bulger and his longtime girlfriend catherine greig appeared in a los angeles courtroom a day after they were arrested in santa monica. the pair had been on the run for 16 years. and this morning many are speculating that bulger may be behind another notorious crime spree. several websites are wondering if he may also be the geezer bandit. that's the nickname for an elderly man linked to more than a dozen robberies in southern california over the past six

year. back in 2006, an fbi agent admitted the agency was looking into whether bulger could possibly be behind those bank robberies but added it was just speculation. it would make for good news, though, good stories, huh? >> and life is sometimes stranger than fiction. >> surely. it is now 5:51. weather and traffic on the ones. meteorologist tom kierein is here with the nice forecast for the weekend. >> yes. a fresh change is beginning to move in. in fact, you'll notice that change as you step off to work this morning and you head out. right now under a mostly cloudy sky around the region. we're at 70 degrees in the suburbs prince george's county, southern montgomery, arlington and east fairfax county of the a little farther to the north and west, it's only in the upper 60s this morning. from washington's benning neighborhood to adelphi, upper marlboro, kensington, quite a bit of cloudiness. farther to the west, the clouds have broken up quite a bit. in much of western maryland and west virginia, the skies cleared out, and it's down to just near

60 degrees there. the lower humidity moving in. this whole area of yellow, you see, this is the lower humidity. that's going to be drifting through this as we get into the afternoon hours. as that happens, we'll have a possibility of a few storms. we had a couple of thunderstorms to the north and west of us. the sky is beginning to clear out to the west as the cooler drier air begins to push in. look at the visibility. it is better this morning. speckles of orange on the eastern sky with some lavender clouds reflected in the tidal bay there next to the potomac river. by 9:00, upper 70s. by noontime, mid-80s and partly cloudy. during the afternoon, hitting upper 80s. late afternoon and early evening is the possibility of a few scattered isolated storms. it's only about a 30% chance. that looks to be mainly east of interstate 95 around the bay and the eastern shore. any lingering storms that do develop will be gone by midevening. the rest of this friday night should be partly cloudy, and

we'll be turning less humid through the night. by dawn saturday, down into the mid-60s. a great start to the day tomorrow. tomorrow lower humidity, highs mid-80s, partly cloudy. blustery northwest wind. good day for sailing on the bay. on monday, turning more humid. afternoon highs, mid-80s, could get afternoon storms. rather steamy on tuesday too. could get afternoon storms. lower humidity moving in midweek next week. danella, good morning. how's the friday commute? so far i am seeing volume increase, but nothing significant. relax. we've still got a little more time. i do want to show you 270. this is 270 in clarksburg. i am seeing volume build up as you make your way out of urbana and head down to clarksburg, but nothing significant at this time. here's new york avenue and ninth street. i know that traffic pattern and all that construction is going to be a mess later, but right

now new york avenue is looking pretty good. here's 95 north of occoquan. in this area, i am seeing more volume but nothing significant. today d.c. delegate eleanor holmes nor done will continue metro officials about what they're doing to make sure metro is safe. norton and others will hold a hearing on capitol hill. right now lawmakers are working to secure an additional $150 million in funds to help metro make the upgrades. it comes just two days after the two-year anniversary of the deadliest accident in metro history. nine people were killed when one train out of control slammed into another train stopped on the tracks near the ft. totten station. metro fares will not be going up in the immediate future. they just approved a $2.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and it does not include any fare hikes or cuts to services.

it does include a 50 cent increase in bus to rail and rail to bus transfers on some special routes. the budget also includes a new metro bus route between buzzard point and gallery place. and additional service on the route between boston and bancroft. >> a woman in virginia is calling for muslims to boycott air france after she was fired from her job at dulles airport. 19-year-old riham osman is a muslim from herndon. she wears a head scarf as a sign of her faith. according to a copy of her contract, she was hired earlier this month from a staffing agency as an air service agent. first day on the job, an air france supervisor pulled her from a training session. >> he said air france has an issue with the scarf, and they will not allow me to work with my scarf on because it violates uniform policy. >> the council on muslim relations sent air france a

letter asking for an apology. the first lady has left south africa and headed to neighboring botswana. this is the second leg of her good will visit to africa with her mother, daughters, and cousins. yesterday the first lady played soccer with nobel peace prize winner arch bishop desmond tutu. the children will help paint a mural at a clinic that treats hiv and aids. tomorrow a little fun, the family will be going on a safari. right now the national zoo is keeping a 24-hour watch on the giant panda to see if she will give birth. she's busy constructing a nest of bamboo and mulberry branches. scientists detected a rise in her hormone levels last month, but it's difficult to tell if a panda is pregnant until she actually gives birth. scientists artificially insem nated her twice in january.

the beloved panda was sent to a breeding program in china last year. >> the panda is not talking about whether she is, in fact, pregnant. god knows you never ask a female, are you pregnant? >> until she actually gives birth. >> until the kid is 10 years old. oh, were you pregnant? >> oh, okay, now i get it. that is a rule to live by, joe. >> exactly. >> the national zoo may or may not have a pregnant panda. workers at the calgary zoo are saying, that's all you got? >> here is a gorilla. there is a gorilla there named zola that can really bust a move. zola loves to play in the water. check out these moves. kind of like a break dance here. now, somebody added music to the video after the fact. it sure looks he's having fun.

does look like he's dancing. the zoo posted the video on youtube. it's already been viewed over 1 million